BORDEAUX, France – They call them the yellow vests, or gilets jaunes. They are becoming as common and as pesky as yellow jackets. Like the winged insect, they buzz loudly, move feverishly and sting painfully.

Politically, the yellow vests are wasps – and wasps are dangerous, particularly in the fall. The yellow vests have been tormenting France since Nov. 17, when they began erecting barricades and blocking roads in opposition to high fuel prices. They wear the ubiquitous day-glow costumes that all motorists must carry in France in case of emergency, assuring they are easily visible on the side of the road. These folks are now standing in the middle of the road, visible everywhere on the political landscape.

There were more protests on Nov. 24 and Dec. 1. They blocked access to airports in Nantes and Nice, as well as to toll booths on major highways. In Paris, they defaced the Arc de Triomphe, burned cars and smashed shop windows. It was the worst violence there since the student uprisings of 1968.

Demonstrations continued across the county on Dec. 15 and 22. The yellow vests are everywhere. The other day they were standing at strategic intersections near the airport outside Marseilles and at a roundabout entering Arles, threatening to choke traffic on its major market day.

The protesters are jovial. They gather around makeshift campfires and engage motorists, inviting honks of approval. Some drivers stop to chat with them at intersections. But driving widely in southern France over the last week, I have seen no serious delays.

It is hard to assess the movement. It seems to spring from the grassroots in rural and suburban France, mobilized by social media. It has no leadership and dislikes politicians. Its members are said to come from right and left, drawing students, trade unionists and laborers. Because this is France, expect anarchists, Fascists, Communists and the usual crowd of professional militants, opportunists and agents provocateurs.

After six weeks, what can we say about the gilets jaunes?

First, they have had success. They have won major concessions from President Emmanuel Macron.

He has cancelled the fuel tax, which was introduced to reduce the use of fossil fuels, to reduce global warming. A noble idea, it was seen by the protestors as unfair, as taxes of this nature hurt the less wealthy.

They have had success. They have won major concessions from President Emmanuel Macron.

He also raised the monthly minimum wage by 100 euros, and removed taxes on overtime wages and end-of-year bonuses. He repealed a wealth tax.

Second, the movement is part of a tradition of protest in this country that is reliable and profitable. Strikes, walkouts, marches and demonstrations are thoroughly French. A reformer such as Macron can only push so far. A green tax is fine with urbanites who airily renounce cars, but not to middle- and working-class commuters who must drive to work.

One observer suggests the movement is about “mobility” – physical as much as social and economic. People need to get around, and public transit cannot always get them there. The French transit system – intra-city high-speed trains, subways, buses and trams, roads – is a triumph. But gasoline prices are high and toll roads, superb as they are, are expensive. Driving 436 kilometres on the autoroute from Arles to Bordeaux costs around $80 Cdn. Secondary roads in these parts take much longer.

Third, we see how the culture of protest can take root in countries as wealthy and egalitarian as France. This is a nation that offers free health care, a system so venerated the French have created a museum dedicated to national health insurance in Bordeaux. There are subsidized prescription drugs, free education and maternity leave. Voilà, the welfare state.

But the lament here is the same as it is among malcontents in Britain, America and maybe Canada, too: The last decade’s rising economic tide has not lifted all boats. Many remain beached, looking for life jackets, as much as yellow vests, as recession threatens in 2019.

Andrew Cohen is a journalist, professor and author of Two Days in June: John F. Kennedy and the 48 Hours That Made History.

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